The cuneiform sign MÁ denotes a ship or boat. It is used in Sumerian and as a Sumerogram for the Akkadian word eleppu (also 'ship'/'boat').Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, eleppu, p. 124. MÁ is usually preceded by the determinative for items made of wood, namely GIŠ: GIŠ.MÁ, or GIŠ.MÁ, .
Examples The Epic of Gilgamesh lists sixteen wood-related words written with the GIŠ determinative, among them GIŠ.MÁ/eleppu.Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary and Indices, Logograms and Their Readings, pp. 117-18, p. 117. The epic also uses the 'ship'/'boat' Sumerogram in Tablet XI (the Gilgamesh flood myth), and elsewhere when Gilgamesh is taken by boat.
Some of the Amarna letters using the Sumerogram are EA 86, EA 153,Image. GIŠ.MÁ, found in line 10. EA 149, EA 245,Image. GIŠ.MÁ found in line 4 of the reverse. and EA 364.Image. From Ayyab, it is one of the shorter Amarna letters.
See also Amarna letter EA 86 Amarna letter EA 153 Amarna letter EA 245
References
Bibliography (Volume 1) in the original Akkadian cuneiform and transliteration; commentary and glossary are in English
External links Amarna letter EA 153-(Obverse), line 10 (7th line from bottom) Amarna letter EA 245-(Reverse), line 4(=line 28) (4th line from top-of-reverse)